Sophia Grace & Rosie’s Royal Adventure Parent Review

After being discovered by Ellen DeGeneres, Sophia Grace and Rosie move from daytime talk show guests to acting in their own adventure. Here the cousins help the kingdom of Switzelvania crown a new Queen.

Movie Reviewby Kerry Bennett

You can thank Youtube for celebrities like Justin Bieber, Kid President and Korean pop singer Psy. Now a new duo is on the fame train after their performance of rap singer Nicki Minaj’s song Super Bass went viral. Sophia Grace Brownlee, the little British girl with the impressive voice, is shadowed by her younger cousin Rosie McClelland who acts as Sophia’s hype girl.

The girls are famous for their tutus (usually pink), tiaras and regular appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In their segment Tea Time with Sophia Grace and Rosie, the girls interview personalities like Justin Bieber, Hugh Grant, Reese Witherspoon and Taylor Swift. DeGeneres’ company A Very Good Production is also behind the girls’ direct-to-video movie Sophia Grace & Rosie’s Royal Adventure.

In the story the girls are sent to Switzelvania as correspondents for The Ellen DeGeneres Show to cover the crowning of a new queen. Their handler is program producer Phyllis Bundt (Amy Louise Wilson). Unfortunately the hyperactive Sophia Grace and her equally energetic cousin wear Phyllis out on the oceanic flight and by the time the plane touches down Phyllis is asleep on the job—literally. That means the little gals are left to sneak into the royal residence on their own and fake their identity while Phyllis spends her time in a Switzelvania prison after losing her passport.

In the castle Sophia Grace and Rosie meet the three princesses who are vying for the crown as well as a magical garden ornament that grants wishes. As is to be expected, all the adults in this movie are crazy, incompetent or evil, leaving it to the two shrieking portaganists to orchestrate a happily ever after ending in the kingdom. Their main objective is to help the youngest princess, Abigail (Margaret Clunie) gain the confidence she needs to be a viable contender. Meanwhile Abigail’s two older sisters, Cordelia (Emma Pierson) and Imogen (Anna Skellern) are doing their best to wrest the scepter out of the King’s (Robin Smith) hands.

Luckily for the movie’s target audience, this cotton candy adventure is excessively pink and sugary. While Phyllis endures moments of peril and mishap, the two girls float through relatively unscathed, either physically or emotionally. Brief scenes of slapstick scuffles and cartoon-type violence are depicted, but nothing too scary. However in one instance Sophia Grace resorts to biting a woman on the leg (not a very princess-like response). And while the youngsters don’t outright lie about their identity, they are elusive when it comes to setting the record straight.

Although all appears to be right in the castle when the crown is finally placed on the head of the worthy recipient, it still feels like there may be a shadow hanging over the kingdom. Sophia Grace and Rosie are cute—maybe even too cute for their own good. Right now they have a great thing going. But one has to wonder how long it will be until the gimmick is over. After all a girl can only wear a tutu for so long—unless she is a professional ballerina.

About author

Kerry Bennett is interested in media from both a journalist and parent perspective. Along with authoring articles for several family-oriented publications, she has written for Parent Previews for over 15 years. As a parent herself, she believes parents play a powerful role in teaching media literacy in their homes.